Today, I'm sharing a bit from book 2, Scavenger Falters, releasing 12/30/16.
Alisha thought it a ridiculous hour to be dragging her to breakfast, but she had to agree that she didn’t wish to hear Powell yell so early. When they arrived at the officers’ commons, the only occupants were the general and Colonel Logan. Seeing Logan’s smile as she walked in almost made getting up in the middle of the night worth it.
However, if she thought that breakfast was going to be fun, she soon learned the error of her belief. Between bites of breakfast, all three of them were intent on feeding her bites of regulations 13-14. The general harassed her on 14; the Colonel had 13, and Jack aided on both. They would read the reg, then quiz her on its meaning, and finally Jack would provide situations and ask her which regs were relevant and what she would do.
The only thing that made the exercise tolerable was that Jack’s examples were always funny. “You’re on leave, having a nice day in the Capital, when suddenly you see a Ryder land right smack in a crowd of people on Hathworth street. Worse yet, he is completely nude. What regs have been touched upon and what is your course of action?”
“First, I ensure no civilian has been injured by his action. Then with my own money, I purchase an Indian shawl from the street vendor and order the soldier to wrap himself up. I then get the catcher out of the street because it’s a traffic hazard—”
“The regs, Alisha…” Logan reminded her.
“Reg 13.89…3?” she stated without certainty. “Except during battle conditions all effort should be made that no civilian is harmed or injured during flight exercises.”
“How do you know he’s not part of a battle squad?” Jack asked.
“This one I’ve got. Reg 3.342 states that all soldiers must be properly geared for battle. Clearly, he was not. Reg 2.67 states that on-duty officers must be in uniform. Finally, Reg 14.2…67…no, 66, says that when a soldier is not on duty and off Corps sites that his behavior is regulated by the laws and cultural standards of the place of occupancy. While nudity is not illegal in Capital, the street the soldier has landed on is mostly southern Baptist, so the sight of a nude soldier would be offensive to their cultural standards, which is why I bought him a shawl and ordered him to cover up. Reg 14.678 says that an officer is responsible for enforcing all regulations whether on or off duty, regardless of whether the offending soldier is directly under the officer’s command. That is also why I cleared the catcher, because causing a traffic obstruction is illegal in the Capital.”
“Yeah, but that is clearly never enforced,” Jack observed. “Just ask the vendor you bought the shawl from. He’s probably pulled his cart right in the middle of the street for better traffic business.”
“Reg 14.891 says the Corps is required to uphold and abide all laws currently instated, regardless whether they are enforced upon the general public.”
“That can’t be right,” Powell said and looked at his book.
“That’s what it says,” Logan observed.
“I think we should get that one rescinded as well,” Powell muttered.
Alisha nodded. “I think there are quite a few of the regs that need to be rescinded, but 14.891 is definitely one of them. It sounds good in theory, but what if a town controlled by the Drug Cartel passed a law that forbids flying or weaponry within city limits? They could dress it up real pretty: ‘Make our streets safe: ban guns.’ Show some scavengers sweeping down and stealing your groceries right out of your hands. So the town votes out the guns and flyers. Then the Cartel, which controls local enforcement, proceeds to ignore the laws and go on with their business, but now it’s a Corps-free zone. We can only send in ground troops, and they can’t carry guns.”
General Powell glared at Jack.
Jack reached behind him and grabbed paper and pen. Making a quick note, he finally looked up. “What other ones bother you?”
“Well, Reg 14.266…if that’s the ‘obey local cultural standards’ law.”
“It is,” Jack replied, “And the reason being much the same?”
“Sure. Cultural standards are difficult. For example, that law would prevent a female soldier from entering a quarter of Capital.”
“But that reg only applies when they aren’t on duty,” the general objected.
“Yes, but let’s say I walk from Hathworth Street three blocks down to Melborne, wearing these fatigues. I have violated some cultural standard on each block. Didn’t hurt anyone, and normally no one would ever complain. But what if they decided to make an issue and beat me with their god sticks…or worse drag me down into a cellar and leave me there until their God has forgiven me for my transgression? According to this Reg, the Corps can’t do a thing. When we are off duty, it cedes its control and protection over to local governments and even more frightening, local cultural standards.”
Jack didn’t even wait for the general’s nod, he just wrote it down on the sheet.
By the time Alisha had finished her ‘what ifs,’ most of the Regs in 13 and 14 were on the list.
“Who the hell approved these?” the general demanded.
******
Yep, our girl's got skills!
And in case you haven't yet read book 1, Scavenger's Mission,
It's on sale right now for 99cents
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